I'm new in the astonishing world of piston machines, grinders and beans...After reading many reviews I decided to order a Rancilio Silvia together with a Rocky grinder. I first wanted to buy a Solis Maestro Plus grinder, but after having seen it in a shop, I didn't like the 'cheap' plastic look of it. So I decided for a Rocky.My question is, there are two types of Rocky's: just 'Rocky' and the 'Rocky SD' which lacks the container for the grind. What exactly are the differences between the normal and the SD version? Which one is preferable (and why)?

Which you decide upon is pretty much a personal preference. The only difference between the two grinders is the doser, which is helpful in a commercial setting but, IMHO, pretty much a waste and inconvenience in a home setting. To me the advantage of the doserless, is that is removes one more thing to catch ground coffee.

I only grind what I need for each espresso drink, or for the occassional vac pot of coffee. This means measuring the beans to grind ahead of time, in order to grind exactly what you need. I also use a small sink size plunger (a.k.a plumbers friend) to expel the residual grounds that inevitably stay in the chute following grinding. I also use a small stainless steel pitcher under the chute to catch the grounds. If you do not want to measure ahead of time and allow the doser to determine how much coffee goes into your portafilter, then the doser model may be for you.

The Rocky has been a good utilitarian ginder for me, and whenever I decide to upgrade, I will keep Rocky for drip, vac pot and French press grinding.

I chose the Sylvia and Doserless Rocky recently when I started. Very happy. I think you don't need to leve the beans sitting there all day, so I went without the doser. I just grind right into the PF and Shop Vac out the Rocky at the end of my "session".

People have modified Rockys in tons of ways to get around this and other issues, try searching around and see what all you find. So far, all I have done is put a few layers of masking tape on my lid's lip to make it airtight (air still comes in from the bottom)

Forget the Rocky and get a Mazzer quality grinder. When I compared the Rocky to the Mazzer Mini, I found the Rocky to be grossly overpriced (ie. you pay more for the Mazzer, but you get lots more in return). Your experience may be different, but I doubt it.

Forget the Rocky and get a Mazzer quality grinder. When I compared the Rocky to the Mazzer Mini, I found the Rocky to be grossly overpriced (ie. you pay more for the Mazzer, but you get lots more in return). Your experience may be different, but I doubt it.

While the above may be true, I believe the Rocky (mine is the DL...doserless...great for doing 2-4 shots...no need for a doser) would easily meet your needs for the time being...unlike the Solis and others, the Rocky holds it's value, so if you decide to "upgrade" in the future, say a year or so, you're sure to get much of it's original value back...assuming it's in fine shape...also, the Rocky is a bit easier to adjust for the times when you want to do vac pot/presspot, etc....Once "Anita" (my new espresso machine) and I are better acquainted, I'll probably go the Mazzer route as a dedicated espresso grinder, and hopefully be able to keep the Rocky for other duties...if not, I'll find him a good home among the Geek community...

Forget the Rocky and get a Mazzer quality grinder. When I compared the Rocky to the Mazzer Mini, I found the Rocky to be grossly overpriced (ie. you pay more for the Mazzer, but you get lots more in return). Your experience may be different, but I doubt it.

Phone Chris Coffee. Ask them about their experience with the Rocky. I use a Mazzer Mini Electronic in my coffee bar and after talking with Chris Coffee, purchased a Rocky Doserless for my Anita at home. I found the Rocky at Chris Coffee price to be the best value for home. Your experience may be different, but I doubt it.

Mazzer Spazzer !!Go with the Rocky.I mean by all means get the Mazzer if you can really afford it .Why not...I just dont want you to think that you would be making a foolish compromize by getting the Rocky,and spending another $200.00 for a pro espresso grinder that you dont really need.The Rocky is many steps better, in all ways than the Maestro, and only a couple of steps behind a Mazzer{at home}..If you have the money to buy a Mazzer, then why not buy a Pro espresso machine to go with it..Save your money for the $600.00 roaster that you will HAVE to have next month.....

Taking into account the glowing comments of many contributors to this forum, I selected the douserless Rocky to be my 'starter' grinder. As it turned out, the new Rocky I acquired was defective. Its grinding burrs were not aligned properly when it was built. As a result, it was impossible to produce a grind fine enough to be correctly processed by Miss Silvia. For a month, I tried every possible workaround, but no success. Frustrated, I did a Google search of "Rocky problems" and discovered the issue afflicting "my" Rocky was, in fact, an issue observed by others, too. Disappointed, I returned the Rocky to my dealer and received a full credit toward a Mazzer Mini. I did not want to spend the additional money on the Mini, but now I'm glad I did.

The Mazzer R-O-C-K-S and this makes my Miss Silvia very happy!!!

Lessons learned:

Buy new from a reputable dealer with a return policy.

If a Rocky is your choice, test the burr alignment using a magic marker to color one grind surface of the burr set. Zero the burr set and check to make sure the colored surface is wearing evenly. If the wear is uneven, great frustration awaits you.

Avoid the hassle by taking a deep breath and forking out the $$ to get a Mazzer quality grinder in the first place.

Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post

Forum Rules:No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards.No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum.No SEO style postings will be tolerated. SEO related posts will result in immediate ban from CoffeeGeek.No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum.Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards.Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics.Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies.Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies.Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts.Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.